Freethinker's corner

There is a saying, perhaps it was just a remark, that getting Atheists to agree on anything is like trying to herd cats. I believe I have an understanding why this is so.

With religious cults you have the dogma of that cult to bind people into a pattern of thinking. Depending on the particular cult involved the minds of the group are molded by the leaders’ interpretation of the doctrine. From a very young age malleable minds are repetitiously "programmed" into predictable thought patterns. Once this indoctrination has solidified it is rare that someone can completely break the "spell". Even if the spell is broken, mental powers may remain forever damaged, still influenced by archaic thoughts.

Atheists are another consideration entirely, especially if they are able to remain uninfluenced by religious dogma. Atheists opinions are infinite on myriad points of conjecture. To organize they must realize that the best they can hope for is a percentage of agreement. To expect total agreement on anything except the most basic things is to accept the literal fact that there will never be an organization wherein energies and monies may be directed to promote freethought. Atheists, express your opinion, but do not expect total agreement. Or nothing will ever get done!

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     It is evident by many reports that the Middle East debacle will continue until and unless something overwhelmingly calamitous or surprising occurs to squelch it.

     Over the decades the two combatants have exchanged violence with no regard to any driving force except revenge and hatred.

     What was the initial firebrand that ignited the present conflict? Without a doubt it can be said that the initial conflict was in 1948 when a group of individuals stormed the area to create the present day state of Israel. This fact is incontrovertible. Prompted by a nefarious and fictional  belief system and supported by gleeful and hopeful believers in Christianity, an army sought to restore a country which was ordained by their God. For the Christians such a state was necessary if the fate predicted in the Biblical Revelations were to occur. For the Jewish people it was a retaking of lands promised to them by their God.

      If this initial action in 1948 had not occurred, and instead the Jewish state had been developed in some other location, there would not be the conflict that rages today that threatens all the world with possible destruction.

      Innocent people everywhere can only stand by helplessly as the world implodes.

                                            (090101)

Taking offense where none is meant or given.

Possible causes:

Unusual language semantics may lead to misconstrued understandings.

Circadian Rhythms, affecting individual mood states, causing emotional flares where at other times none would occur. Also factors such as physical maladies caused by fatigue or illness or abuse of drugs, may be a base cause.

Intentional adverse reactions to non-offensive communications as an excuse to act against an individual.

Inflexible belief systems absent of reason and incompatible with any other belief system causes varying degrees of offense, some leading to violence and murder.

                                                  (081222)

December 21-22 (Northern Hemisphere)
The Winter Solstice has been celebrated in some way or another for thousands of years. In the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice is often connected with various religious holy days. Pagan religions associated the winter solstice with significant life changes, intricately linked with the universe and fates that determined the future and effected those lives. This significance can also be found in the Southern Hemisphere, where the Winter Solstice takes place in June.
For science-enthusiasts the winter solstice is an interesting astronomical occurrence that offers an opportunity to celebrate what we have managed to learn about the cosmos and affords us an opportunity to revel in the excitement of space exploration and the complexity of the universe.
Winter Solstice marks that day when there is less daylight than at any other time of the year. We commonly refer to it as the shortest day. The Summer Solstice, on the other hand, is the day with the most daylight (the longest day).
The Origin of Solstice Celebrations
"Solstice" comes from two Latin words: sol (meaning sun) and sistere (to cause to stand still).
The annual seasons occur because of two characteristics of our planet:
1) a 23.5° tilt of the earth’s axis makes the earth rotate like a gyroscope, so it points continuously in a fixed direction-toward the area of space near the North Star
2) the earth continuously revolves around the sun in an elliptical orbit-once every 365.25 of our solar days.
As a result, for half of the year the Southern Hemisphere is more exposed to the sun than the Northern Hemisphere, and for the other half of the year the reverse is true. At noontime in the Northern Hemisphere the sun appears high in the sky during summer and low in the sky during winter. The sun reaches its maximum elevation on the day with the greatest number of daylight hours; this day is called the summer solstice, and is typically on June 21-the first day of summer.
The lowest elevation occurs on or about December 21 in the Northern Hemisphere and June 21 in the Southern Hemisphere. This is the Winter Solstice — the first day of winter, when nighttime hours are at a maximum.
Winter was a very arduous time for Aboriginal people during prehistoric times. With the end of the growing season tribes had to live off of stored food and whatever animals they could trap. People were troubled as the life-giving sun sank lower in the sky each noon. Eventually, they feared, it could disappear completely and leave them in permanent darkness and extreme cold. With the passing of the winter solstice and the rising of the sun in the noon sky, they would have reason to celebrate as they saw the sun strengthening once more. Many months of cold weather still remained before the spring thaw, but they realized that the return of the warm season was inevitable. For this reason, the concept of birth and death/rebirth became associated with the Winter Solstice. Aboriginal people had no elaborate instruments to detect it, but they were able to notice a slight elevation of the sun’s path within a few days after the solstice, so, celebrations were often timed for about the 25th of December.
In the United States there has been a recent increase in solstice observances by atheists and freethinkers. For example, the American Atheists and local atheist groups organized celebrations for December 2000, including the Great North Texas Infidel Bash in Weatherford, Texas; the Winter Solstice bash in Roselle, New Jersey; the Winter Solstice Parties in York, Pennsylvania, Boise, Idaho, North Bethesda, Maryland, and Des Moines, Iowa; the Winter Solstice Gatherings in Phoenix, Arizona and Denver, Colorado: and a Year End Awards and Review Dinner in San Francisco. Even freethinkers who do not consider themselves atheists can celebrate the Winter Solstice as an alternative to more religious, and commercialized, holidays at this time of year. The Winter Solstice can be a time to exchange gifts with a science/educational theme, to send friends and family Solstice Cards, to tell about experiences as a freethinker, and to socialize through food and fun.
The Date and Time of the Winter Solstice
The exact date varies from year to year and may occur between the 20th and 23rd of December.

Fictional bedtime stories entertain children. Some provide comforting stories to allow untroubled sleep. Others, like those in the Bible present visions of horror, producing macabre nightmares that could last a lifetime.

The stories presented in the Bible and instilled in youth by merciless repetition remain imprinted on individuals for the rest of their lives and are capable of prompting nonsensical behavior until the day they die.

In some cases these stories produce a kind of paralysis, wherein individuals, instead of taking necessary actions to help another, sit hands clasped together and speak to a non-existent entity. In other cases the stories produce individuals who are capable of causing calamity to visit a great number of others.

The Bible, generated solely by a primitive culture, is outdated, and until abandoned, will continue to cause the violence which permeated the primitive culture from which it came.

A high number of people are incapable of seeing the fiction and instead see truth. Until this book, the Bible, is routinely taught as being fiction, people will continue to be duped by it’s empty promises and visions.

                                                   (081221)

Whenever perchance an encounter with believers in christianity occurs inevitably they utilize the same worn out arguments which have indisputably been destroyed by reason.

Unless such encounters occur in person I will no longer engage in them. It is fruitless to argue with those who have been mentally compromised by religious dogma. They are helpless to see the truth as they have been blinded by the myth.

This site is for the purposes of debating subtleties of various issues. This site is not for debating those who have been compromised by religious dogma.

                                        (081220)

Yes, it’s true. A murderer that accepts Jesus changes.

Instead of just a murderer he becomes a liar as well.

Quite a change.